


Caught in the Rain

by MinnieTheMoocherDA



Series: Miraculous drabbles [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, gabenath
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-03-17 21:45:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18973267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinnieTheMoocherDA/pseuds/MinnieTheMoocherDA
Summary: After Nathalie gets caught in a storm, Gabriel lets her borrow some of Emilie's old clothes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know if I'm going to continue this story or not. I might just leave it as a one shot. Xxxxxxxxx

Nathalie had never been so glad to see the Agreste Mansion. She ran up the marble steps as fast as her heels would let her, hoping she wouldn't slip in one of the many puddles. Her clothes were completely soaked through. Even her underwear was wet. And she couldn't feel her feet in her rain filled shoes, or the fingers clutching her briefcase. 

Gorilla usually picked her up in the morning on his way to work, but he'd had a family emergency so couldn't come into day. She'd made a mental note to organise a replacement for him and to wish his family well on behalf of Agreste Industries. As well as to personally message him later. 

So she decided, since her apartment was only a few streets away, to walk. When she'd left there had only been a light drizzle of rain, nothing a decent umbrella couldn't solve. Unfortunately, the weather had quickly turned for the worst, with raindrops like buckets crashing down from the sky and wind like a hurricane barrelling into her. The umbrella was soon swept away, not that it would protected her much anyway, leaving Nathalie with just her suit and briefcase that did little to protect her from the elements. She could barely see out of her rain covered glasses and her heart was in her throat every time she crossed a road, hoping that green blurs she saw were the go signs. In some ways she was grateful that the fear distracted her from the cold. 

Grateful that Gabriel had given her a set of keys she let herself in. The cold white walls of the Agreste Mansion had never felt so warm as she leaned against them. She barely had time to catch her breathe was Gabriel called from his office. Sighing, she dragged herself across the hall, trying not to worry about how late she was or how much water she was dripping on the floor. 

She placed her professional mask on her face before entering. Thankfully he was facing away from her, too busy focusing on a garment he was altering on a manikin. 

"Nathalie, I need you to push our nine o'clock meeting back, I've had a surge of inspiration and I need to capture it in my fashion before it flies away." 

Nathalie rolled her eyes. Even before Hawk Moth he'd always had an affinity for being over dramatic. 

"Yes-s s-sir." She cursed at her chattering teeth. Unfortunately, Gabriel had noticed and turned around. His eyes widened at the sight of her. She didn't want to think of how much of a state she looked. She could already feel her make up rolling down her cheeks. 

"Nathalie." The breathlessness of his tone shouldn't not have made her feel weak. 

"What happened? Are you alright? Were you caught out in that storm?” Abandoning his work, he rushed over to her. 

"Ye-yes sir. Gor-Gorilla was mean to p-pick me up, b-but he had a family emergency-cy. So, I wa-walked here. I'll organise a replacement for him im-m-mediately." 

"No, you need to warm up. Go to the south facing guest room with the on suite. Have a shower and I will bring you some clean clothes." 

Nathalie stared up at him in shock. 

"B-but sir! I also need to r-rearrange yours ap-p-pointment and call G-Gorilla's family and-" 

He placed his hands on her shoulder. She was surprised he was willing to touch her dirtied clothes. 

"I can handle it. No go how a shower." 

She severely doubted he could, but she had never been able to refuse orders from her boss so dutifully she nodded and headed upstairs. Once there she stripped out of her sopping clothes and stepped into the shower. The warm water thawed out her fingers and raised her body temperature to liveable again. Admittedly it did make her feel a lot better. 

She went back into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her body, when she heard a knock at the door. 

"May I come in?" Gabriel's voice said from the other side.

Not wanting to put her wet clothes back on, she supposed she would have to let him in like this. 

"Yes sir." 

When he laid eyes on her, his face turned the colour of his tie. Nathalie hid a smile. It was so rare that she saw that expression on him, especially having been caused by her.

"Yes sir?" She asked innocently. 

Not one to be phased, Gabriel held a box out towards her.

"Here, something in there should suite you." 

She resisted to roll her eyes again. Of course Gabriel would be more focused on whether clothes suited her than if they fitted. Just as Nathalie thought she could be any more surprised today, she looked properly at the box. She recognised it Instantly, having helped put them away. It was a box of Emilie's clothes. Since she died, Nathalie had never seen Gabriel look at let alone open one of them. Knowing this was a big decision for him, she didn't question it. 

"Thank you sir." 

She was unable to gage his expression as he nodded before leaving. Which was probably for the best. She wasn't sure she wanted to think about what this could mean. 

She started trying on the clothes of her boss’ dead wife but was a lot taller than Emilie had been and didn't have her stick thin figure. Eventually she found a knitted white dress with a turtle neck that fitted, even if it was slighter shorter on her than intended. Miraculously they had been the same shoe size, so she slipped on a pair of simple white heels, knowing Gabriel wouldn't be impressed if she wasn't colour coordinated. Her bobble had gotten so wet it had snapped so she dried her hair and left it loose. Maybe she could fund a spare one in her drawer later. Thankfully her glasses only needed a good wipe, to allow her to see properly again.

She was headed back down stairs when she heard a voice behind her.

“Mum?” It was an indescribable mixture of shock, hope and confusion. She turned around to see Adrien standing at the top of the stairs. When he saw her face, he quickly looked away, presumably embarrassed by his reaction. 

“Sorry, I saw that dress and mum used to wear it and-“

“It’s alright Adrien.” She said, interrupting his stammering, for once allowing softness in her voice when speaking to her boss’ son. He nodded before quickly running away to his room. She wanted to run back up the stairs and give the boy a hug. However, her professional side held her back and she was late enough as it was. 

She entered the office. When Gabriel saw her, his expression had traces of when he looked at her in the bedroom. But it was still something distinctly different. Nathalie liked to think she knew him the best out of anyone yet even she didn't think she had seen him look like that before. 

“I’m ready to start my work now sir.” She told him.

“Yes. Good.” He said, quickly looking away. He was such the image of his son in that moment that it almost made her laugh. 

She settled back at her desk and finally did her job. As she worked she kept noticing Gabriel sneaking glances at her. She tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t help the niggly feeling that after the events of today, something had shifted between them. And there would be no going back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it’s taken me so long to update this fic!!! I originally wrote it ages not long after I posted the first chapter. But then I accidentally deleted my first draft and I was too pissed to try and rewrite it again at the time. Until the recent episodes rekindled my interest in this fic so I finally rewrote this chapter. I hope that you guys enjoy!!! Xxxxxxxxx

It had been a week since the _clothing_ _incident_  as Nathalie had begun calling it in her head, and she was still feeling the consequences of being caught in the rain. Her body couldn’t decide if it was boiling or freezing, her brain felt like it was ninety percent mucus and her eyesight was even worse than usual. This definitely wasn’t helped by her over working herself as usual.   
  
“Nathalie.”  
  
She tried to read the email on the screen, but the words kept blurring together. She lifted her hand to search for glasses on her head, assuming that she had forgotten tp put them on. Only to find that they were already on her face.  
  
“Nathalie!”  
  
Refusing to let that stop her, she started to write a reply on her notepad despite detesting the primitive mode. But her fingers felt all clammy and kept slipping on the page.  
  
“NATHALIE!”  
  
Startled, she looked up to find the unusually worried face of Gabriel Agreste staring down at her. When had he come out from behind his desk?  
  
“Yes sir.” She said, hoping the bungged up state of her nose wasn’t noticeable through her speech.  
  
“You need some rest.”  
  
“But sir-“  
  
“Guest bedroom. Now.”  
  
Wishing that he was saying those words under different circumstances, Nathalie dragged her body up the stairs. She could feel both Gabriel and Gorilla’s eyes on her as she walked, ready to catch her if she collapsed. Thankfully, she made it with her dignity still intact.

 

Crawling out of her heels, she lay on the silk sheets that probably cost more than her entire apartment. One thing you could never fault Gabriel on was his taste. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a much needed sleep.  
  
“Nathalie.” A voice said followed by a knock on the door. Groggily she opened her eyes to find a black line obscuring her vision. She must’ve slept with her glasses on. That explained the sensation of something digging into the side of her head. Fixing them properly on her face, she glanced at the alarm clock beside her. It read two o,clock. She been asleep for over four hours!  
  
She jumped out of bed but the sudden movement made her dizzy, forcing her to sit back down.  
  
“Nathalie?” The voice said again, a tinge of worry now evident in it.  
  
“Come in.” She replied, trying to hide her breathlessness.  
  
The smiling face of Adrien peered around the corner before entering the room. The heavenly smell of coffee drifted from the steaming mug in his outstretched hand. Nathalie could practically feel her mouth salivating. She took the mug from him as he sat on the end of the bed and downed it like it was holy water. Which to her it might as well be with the amount of times she’d lived on nothing but the stuff for days.  
  
It was only when she was half way through it that she realised that Adrien had a cup of his own.  
  
“You’re too young to drink coffee.” She told him.  
  
“Like you’re in any position to judge people coffee habits.” He replied with a smug smile. As Nathalie took another sip, she stared at the young man beside her. Even at his age, he was one of the kindest, respectful and resilient people she knew. Although she would never admit it to her herself, she liked to think that she had an influence on that.

“And when exactly did you even learn how to make coffee?” She asked him.

“Nino showed me.”

“You mean he showed you how to use a coffee machine.”

He laughed, making her smile. She hadn’t heard that sound in a while. The pair finished their drinks in comfortable silence. It had been too long since they had spent time together that wasn’t just her telling him his scheduale. She remembered when they used to eat meals together before the added work load of discovering your boss was a part time supervillain. She’d missed it.

As she drunk the last dregs of her coffee another knock came from the door.  


“Come in.” She called. Gabriel walked awardly into the room, a bowl held at arms length in front of him.

“I brought you some chicken noodle soup.”

The smell of the warm broth reminded her stomach that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, making it growl. Adrien chuckled at the noise until he father sent him a look. Nathalie was too busy being entertained to be embaressed. Sensing his moment to leave, Adrien stood up from the bed.

“Sorry, I just remembered that I’ve got homework to do. I hope you enjoyed your coffee.”

“It was lovely. Thank you for the drink.” Was all she allowed herself to say.

“Your welcome.” He said, his smile showing that he knew. He side stepped his father with a particular look of his own before heading back to his room. Now that his son was gone, Gabriel headed towards her. Unlike Adrien he hesitated before sitting on the side of the bed. He then handed her the soup like a robot trrying to imitate human generosity. Hiding a smile, she lifted the spoon to her mouth and took a sip of it. The texture was creamy but not thick with good sized pieces of chicken without it feeling like a broth. It was really good!  
  
“Did you make this?” She asked between sips.  
  
“I Uber eats-ed it.” He said, looking away in emabressedment. “I’ve seen characters give each other some on various tv shows so I thought that it would help.”

That was possibly the most Gabriel Agreste reason for affacetion that she had ever heard.   
  
“And I’ve sent for my personal doctor to take a look at you.”  
  
“Sir that’s unnecessary I-“  
  
“And I want you to take the rest of the week off.”  
  
“With all due respect, the company would fall apart without me.”  


“I value your health more than I do my company.”  


Nathalie nearly dropped her spoon. You wouldn’t know it judging by his usually cold demeanour, but Gabriel was the most passionate man she had ever met. He poured his heart and soul into everything he did. Wether that be as a butterfly themed supervillain, a fashion designer or a father. Even if sometimes he failed spectacularly. And his company was no exception. Before the miraculous, Emilie and Adrien, that had been all he had. Building an empire from scraps of fabric in a rusting apartment. For him to value something over his life’s work was unfathomable. 

 

Unable to think of an argument, Nathalie continued to eat her soup. Once she had finished, she looked up to find Gabriel staring at her, a relieved yet smug smile that reminded her of Adrien. When he realised that she had caught him, he stood quickly up and wiped the smile from his face. 

 

“Gorilla is to take you home and is under strict instruction not to take you here or any company offices for the next week. And my personal doctor will arrive at yours presently.” 

 

He walked stiffly towards the door, his fingers clinging to the handle when he stopped. He glanced over his shoulder, a soft gleam in his eyes.

 

“I hope you feel better soon.” He said before shutting the door behind him. 

 

Nathalie collapsed back into the bed as soon as he was gone. As much as she hated to admit it, she did need to rest if she was going to get better. Unfortunately the lack of work would mean that there would be nothing to distract her from the thoughts that she was trying not to think about. 

 


End file.
